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DJ's of influence

I second the vote for Jean Shepherd. When I was a kid in Philadelphia I didn't have the option of putting a transistor radio under my pillow ... I had to put the table radio in my window to pick up WOR in New York. And whenever I heard a parent come up the stairs (Shep was on from 11:15 to midnight) I had to shut it off and dive for the bed at the opposite wall.

Yeah, that's his voice narrating A Christmas Story (he also co-wrote it). Imagine hearing a story that good, that richly detailed, five nights a week. Plus Saturday nights in front of a live audience. That's all Shep did, was tell stories. He wasn't a DJ. He just rambled on about being a kid, being an awkward teenager, being in the army. He created a whole community of characters, some appeared regularly, some only once.

Of course, that's not what I do now as a DJ. But I do carry Shep's influence of speaking one-to-one, it's just you and me, we're in this together. Casual, relaxed, and yet still engaged and charged in the moment. I can name other influences: Dan Ingram, the guy who showed that Top 40 Dj'ing can be an art form ... Stan Freberg, Firesign Theatre ... but Jean Shepherd was the best.
 
Locally a lot of us used to listen to Joey Reynolds on WPOP in Hartford in the 60's. It came in clear at night in New Britain CT which was a major factor.
During summer vacations and days at the shore we listened to Cousin Brucie on WABC-as a side note I happened to purchase his autobiography (for 25 cents at a library book sale)and something in the book really stuck in my mind. Morrow said something to the effect that a lot of his success was being able to visualize what his listeners were up to at the moment(like a housewife cleaning up after dinner and doing the dishes) and communicate in such a manner, the listener though they were having a 1 on 1 discussion with them. Like a professional golfer who can visualize the shot and pull it off, this was a skill that helped him stand out.
But we mainly listened for the music.
 
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